Wednesday, May 14, 2008

--Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)-- Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) -- male-- Eastern Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) -- male, the state bird of Iowa--Grey Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) -- normally very shy, but they have been visiting our feeders daily for the last few weeks. Named for their cat-like "meow" song. They also mimick other bird songs, but the periodic meow gives them away.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

I purposely delayed writing about this year's Kentucky Derby while I waited for the dust to settle. By now, even those who didn't watch the race know that the undefeated favorite Big Brown won the race handily while the second-place finisher, favorite filly Eight Belles suffered an ultimately life-ending injury after the race had finished. The official report is that she broke her two front "ankles" (actually called "fetlocks" or the metacarpophalangeal joint) and had to be euthanised on the track.

There are many questions about the racing industry being raised, all of which have been asked before with no good answers as yet. Questions about the safety of the track surfaces, the breeding practices that have lead to the Thoroughbred of today, the age the horses are run, the training routine, the running of fillies against colts, the relative short time between the 3 Triple Crown races are continually asked. I won't try to address those questions at present, as I don't think I have enough information on any of them to make an educated answer, but suffice it to say that I am a horse-lover and a lover of horse racing and whatever they can do to make the sport safer, I will support.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

It's Derby day! In about 6 hours, the most exciting 3 minutes in sports will take place. They have a very nice interactive site at http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2008/contenders where you can see all of the contenders and videos of their races and some exercise rides. Check it out!

I certainly like Big Brown (he's a monster!) and the filly Eight Belles, but I also like Visionaire and Colonel John.

Friday, May 2, 2008

I caught pictures of a new visitor to the yard that I haven't seen before. This is a pair of Brown Thrashers (Toxostoma rufum). It is a neat looking bird, and is related to catbirds and mockingbirds. They were foraging in the backyard, digging around in the mulch.

Welcome to Critter Capers

This is a blog about a veterinarian's capers with critters of all shapes and sizes...plus other animal news of interest. **Where needed for privacy protection, names and specifics of some events are changed.**